One talented leader

Saturday

Earlier this year, Kinston High’s football team found itself in the midst of a rare three-game losing streak.

A handful of seniors, led by George Jones, VeQuain Joyner, Denzel Keyes, Jimel Lofton and Jeremy Taylor, called a players only meeting.

“We talked to each other,” Taylor said. “We wanted to see how we could change it around and get back on track. We needed to see where everybody’s head was at.”

Earlier this year, Kinston High’s football team found itself in the midst of a rare three-game losing streak.

A handful of seniors, led by George Jones, VeQuain Joyner, Denzel Keyes, Jimel Lofton and Jeremy Taylor, called a players only meeting.

“We talked to each other,” Taylor said. “We wanted to see how we could change it around and get back on track. We needed to see where everybody’s head was at.”

The meeting worked, and the Vikings won three of their last four games and reached the second round of the state 2A playoffs. That sort of leadership, along with a laundry list of statistical achievements, is why The Free Press chose Taylor as its defensive player of the year.

No one notched more tackles for the Vikings than the 6-foot, 185-pound linebacker and strong safety. Taylor, a senior, recorded 103 tackles (51 solo), forced two fumbles, recovered another, broke up four passes and blocked a pair of kicks. He also led the team in tackles for loss.

The numbers are nice, Taylor said, but it was never about bragging rights or personal glory when he checked his stats on Maxpreps.com following a game.

“I just wanted to see how I could improve,” he said. “It’s about getting the job done, and the results will come.”

He entered the 2012 campaign as a third-string defender, but with the graduation of a trio of outstanding linebackers (Angelo Keyes, Derek Rivers and Sheldon Grady), Taylor knew his coaches would be counting on him to have an increased presence on the field.

“My role was to step up, to take the role they played when they were here and get the job done,” Taylor said.

He did more than just get the job done. He not only led the team in tackles, he was second in pass deflections.

His coming out party may well have been at home against North Pitt, a game in which the Vikings found themselves trailing at halftime. Taylor recorded a career-high 19 tackles (15 solo) in that game to hold the Panthers to three second-half points and helped lead his team to a 28-16 come-from-behind win.

Joyner, the team’s signal caller, said having a defensive unit led by a player like Taylor made the offense’s job much easier.

“We had the reassurance that we’d have the ball most of the game,” Joyner said. “They find ways to get the ball back in the offense’s hands.”

On the year, the Vikings outscored their opponents by nearly a touchdown.

“He is a tremendous part of our defense and a big part of the team,” coach Nick Anderson said. “He’s a super smart kid, and he excels at what he does.”

Anderson said Taylor, an International Baccalaureate student in the top 10 of his class, is a student of the game.

“He’s very intelligent and makes great open field tackles,” Anderson said. “He does a very good job of studying film and listening to the coaching staff in practice. He always seems to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Taylor said playing in a state championship game a year ago motivated him to push himself and his teammates to repeat that performance. Though the Vikings ended their season with a second-round playoff loss at Tarboro to finish 7-5, Taylor said postseason success was always a motivating factor.

“Every day, we would go hard,” he said. “You can’t settle for less.”

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